Author: Dan Boyd

This week is Data Privacy Week, created by the same folks who support Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October of each year. This used to be just a single day in January, but the topic is growing rapidly both in criticality and scope. Every time we use the Internet, whether is via social media, shopping sites, content sites, or more important things like banking online or dealing with other financial tasks, information about us is gleaned by the sites we visit and even by sites we don’t. Limiting this information gathering is what this week is all about.

Happy, happy new year! (Yes, I put “happy” in twice, on purpose, both for effect and positive emoting)

I hope everyone had a great holiday time, were able to relax as they saw fit, and are ready for the new year and a new semester. We have challenges this semester, but we’re moving forward, looking ahead, and have so much headed our way.

“Interwebs”, should be aware that data, including your email address, real name and username have been “scraped” from the site using a technique published by a security researcher. Of the 167 million accounts scraped, 114 million have had their hashed (sort of like encrypted) email address cracked and distributed within the hacking community. While no passwords for the site were captured, you must realize that this information is “out there” and could be used to attempt to manipulate you into compromising related accounts.

and most everyone’s bank account is trying to recover from Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. As we move into this season of searching for the best deals, figuring out how to purchase them all, waiting for packages to arrive and being very busy, let’s all remember that to cyber-criminals, scammers, phishers and the like, this season means something very different to them than it does to us.

Welcome to November! The end of the semester is vaguely in sight, but we have Thanksgiving coming before that happens. I hope everyone enjoyed the Halloween weekend, avoided eating too much candy, and are ready for the time to change this coming weekend. Yep, it’s coming…

If you receive an email from Everfi claiming you have a new assignment, this is a valid email notifying you of required Title IX training. This was explained in an email sent October 13th from Wayne Phipps in Human Resources….

I hope everyone is settled in and ready to take on the rest of the semester. I just want to take a few minutes of your time to welcome you to Cybersecurity Awareness Month (CAM) once again. This is the seventh year that Berry has participated in this international event aimed to remind everyone that cybersecurity is now an important part of our everyday life. Email, streaming services, phones, social media, Internet of Things devices, and even just Internet connectivity all require that we are informed, aware and responsive to the threats to our accounts, devices, and lives.